Air Arabia shareholders approve nine percent cash dividend at Annual General Meeting

Air Arabia investors approved the distribution of a nine percent cash dividend for the 2015 fiscal year at the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Sharjah. The dividend, which is equivalent to 9 fils per share, shows another year of healthy development and strong profitability for the Middle East and North Africa's very first and largest low-cost airline company.

During the AGM, the assembly authorized the credit report of the company's auditors for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015, along with the balance sheet and earnings and loss accounts for the exact same period. The Board of Directors and auditors of the business were likewise discharged from liability for the financial year ending December 31, 2015, while auditors for the next were selected and their remuneration fixed. The assembly also gave approval to amend Air Arabia's short articles of association in line with Federal Law No 2 of 2015 worrying industrial companies.

"Following another year of strong development and achievement, Air Arabia is delighted to return profit to our investors through a healthy nine percent cash dividend," said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al Thani, Chairman of Air Arabia. "Despite continuous issues in the global economy and continued pressure on yields in the air travel market, with development and functional performance at the heart of our business, Air Arabia continues to be well positioned for growth in 2016.".

For the full year ending December 31, 2015, Air Arabia reported a net profit of AED 531 million while turnover reached AED 3.8 billion in 2015 with passenger numbers increasing by 12 percent to more than 7.6 million.

2015 was a year of substantial route expansion with 23 route added to the Air Arabia network, including the noteworthy accomplishment of becoming the area's first low-cost airline company to go into the Chinese market with the launch of services to the city of Urumqi. The airline likewise added a 5th international hub with the formation of "Air Arabia Jordan" and the opening of a fixed-based operation at Amman Queen Alia International Airport.

2015 was also an award-winning year as Air Arabia took home accolades including "World Travel Leaders Award" at the World Travel Market 2015 in the United Kingdom, "Best Low-cost Airline in the Middle East" at the Skytrax World Airline Awards in France, "Best Low-Cost Carrier" at the 2015 World Tourism Forum Awards in Turkey, "Airline of Year" at the Aviation Business Awards, and "Award for Customer Innovation" at the first Aviation Achievement Awards. Data from Google also exposed that Air Arabia was the most looked for airline company by UAE users in 2015, reflecting the strength of its online existence and product offering.